23 more days...

until the dreaded 30th birthday! Ugh, I think reality is kicking in that it is going to happen, so I need to enjoy the final few weeks of my 20's in style! Blah!!! Really quick, here is a follow up on Dathan Ritzenhein's performance last weekend - absolutely amazing! Also, a post from Runners World talking about why GPS watches aren't necessary accurate to course mile markers - pretty much discrepancies from blocked signals from tall buildings and losing/gaining ground from excessive turns on a course.

Yesterday, woke up feeling better - took a ton of anti-inflammatories, and did minor stretching. Weather was overcast and cool - low 70's, just PERFECT for running, so dragged myself out to test out my groin and attempt a pace run. Groin was super tight, and had problems lifting my right leg so shorted my stride about 25% and kept going. This sounds like a radical solution, and not recommended but I have a pretty short stride as it is and almost feel like I'm shuffling my feet when I run so wasn't that big of a change. First mile, felt pretty comfortable, got into a good rhythm pretty quickly. Shocked to see a fast split, quite frankly. 2nd and 3rd mile, was cruising along, shouldn't feel this easy. Loosened up a little, still felt like I was dragging my right leg but no stinging pain like before. Coming back, realized why I was killing these splits - was running completely downwind first half, so kind of battled into the wind coming home. 5th mile, started to feel a little stinging sensation so eased up. Was laboring a bit, but felt strong for the most part. Last mile, battled some hills, hit it hard but let up the last 200 meters. Cooled down, stretched, more drugs. Total mileage: ~6.5 miles - splits were: 6:31, 6:35, 6:26, 6:32, 6:38, 6:25.

Went to a former co-worker's retirement dinner last night with Jared, actually got to hang out with him and his family a ton this weekend and got in some good quality time with his gorgeous daughters! Weekend was pretty laid back for the most part, and got caught up with rest which was nice.

So my pace run was more of a speed workout, but it didn't feel hard which was pleasantly surprising. I am a lot more strong at this point than I thought, but having an easier week probably helped a ton. Got in 38 miles this week (felt like 20 quite honestly), and hit all my runs according to plan! This week, another 50 mile week and another 20 mile run! But shouldn't be too bad, seeing we hit 22 the week before with no problems. Groin is a little tight today, but should be good to go on our easy 4 tonight.

Jared and I

Sophie playing with Lillian

Just adorable :)

Happy Saturday!

Pretty cool news - Dathan Ritzenhein tearing it up in the 5K in a meet in Zurich, setting an American record by 2 seconds! As most of you know, he just recently switched coaches to Alberto Salazar who coaches other elite athletes like Alan Webb and Kara Goucher. Dathan ran 12:56 to defeat Bob Kennedy's 13 year old record. Congrats Ritz!!!

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

Friday, finished up another long work week then headed to the track in the evening with Crystal to do some track work (scheduled 7X800). Felt kind of weird switching off days, plus we had run so early on Wednesday that is was almost like we had 2 days off so I was feeling pretty lethargic. Weather was cool and humid, having rained most of the morning and some of the afternoon. We warmed up with a 3/4 mile jog, then had the misfortune of having a hoard of kids march their way on the track, deciding to play their football game ON the actual track. This was pretty much the last thing we wanted to see was a ton of hyperactive kids running in our way, so tried to communicate to them to leave the first couple lanes open for us to do speedwork. To their credit, they complied, probably because they could tell that Crystal was going to pretty much eviscerate anybody that got in our way ;) First rep felt ok - was tight, tried to lead a conservative pace, and think I did ok. Could tell that this workout was going to be tough, as we haven't done speedwork in over 6 weeks and obviously been focusing mostly on conditioning rather than speed. Crystal led the 2nd rep, pretty much destroyed both of us as we went blazing right from the start. Next couple, settled in a rhythm but legs were starting to get that leadened feeling and could certainly feel having to use my upper body a lot more on the last 200 meters. Crystal wasn't feeling too well, so she declared she was only doing 5 reps (7 were planned), so wanted to make the last 2 with her count. I set pace on both those, but on the outside lane which is definitely a lot harder to do so but felt fine doing so. Her and Pat left, decided to try to knock out my last 2 quickly, as it was getting dark and I was pretty tired. Without Crystal, sooo much harder to control pace so just concentrated on keeping a consistent turnover. Last rep, felt like the first 400 meters was so much faster than the time indicated, but decided to have fun with it so turned the jets on the last 300 meters. Saw a walker ahead, and decided I was going to catch her - caught her well before the last turn, felt my body naturally kicking and pretty much killed it and nailed my negative split. Did cooldown, stretched afterwards. Total mileage: 5 miles - splits were: 2:56, 2:47, 2:55, 2:54, 2:51, 2:46, 2:36 (yikes!).

This morning, woke up bright and early for our scheduled long run. Weather was chilly (high 50's), but warmed up fast. We decided to do the Troy route, which I had done a few long runs already but not yet with Crystal. Legs felt better than I thought they would, but groin was still noticably tight. Was able to shake it out the first couple miles so it felt more comfortable. We noticed a little more activity than usual on the trails (maybe the later start due to FANTASTIC weather this weekend), so played a little game modeled off the Nike Battle of the Sexes commercial I posted a while back. We were counting how many guy runners were out there vs. women runners - walkers didn't count, bikers made up for 1/3 of a runner. The women ended up winning (I think the final count was 14-1/3 to 11-2/3?), but the men take a consolation prize by technically having more of us out there :) Anyways, the run was fine - first 6 miles flew pretty fast, and we were hitting ok splits that felt like a slow jog. On the turnaround, started to cramp up pretty bad, and it wasn't getting much better. Tried doing everything to alleviate the cramp, but was getting worse by the step. Decided to stop for a bathroom break a little past the 9 mile marker, but kind of succumbed to the pain and had to walk a little bit to try to work it out. Last 3 miles were not pretty, as clearly my body was not responding to the run very well. Never had this before, it was pretty weird. Total mileage: 12 miles - splits were: 8:51, 8:20, 8:23, 8:27, 8:21, 8:35, 8:18, 8:21, 8:36, 8:06, 8:04, 8:00.

Ate some food, did minor stretching, took a small nap and woke up to some of the worst pain I have ever experienced in my groin area. It is this stinging burning sensation, and I cannot move my legs without discomfort in that area. My God, I can't even walk correctly right now! It's kind of scary - I am trying to stay off my feet the rest of this day and will pretty much proceed with caution moving forward :(

BOLT!!!!

Awesome that a track and field star made the cover of Sports Illustrated. Can't remember the last one, maybe Carl Lewis in the last decade? Regardless, great for the sport of running, and SI does a follow up on possibly the greatest sprinter ever.

Next, here is an article talking about the American women in the World Championship Marathon last weekend - more specifically, Tera Moody and Kara Goucher. Talks about how physically exhausting the race was, as evidenced by the post-race interviews.

Last night, enjoyed not having to run (since we got it in early) and hung out with Pat and Crystal on their new patio, which is gorgeous by the way! Today, day off - we switched it with Friday, where we will do our track work then. Will spend an evening doing some deep stretching, corework, and runner's yoga!

Happy Hump Day!!!

Sorry for the delay - the crazy combination of heavy work, running, and no sleep took its toll on me! First, here is a fun article from the Wall Street Journal comparing Usain Bolt's speed amongst animals! They think he's about the 30th fastest on the list, behind the likes of a cheetah, grizzly bear, and white tailed deer. Next, World Marathon Champion Abel Mutai sets his sights on the world record marathon time. Wants to bring the record back to Kenya, where pretty much all long distance times/titles are currently!

Here is a quick recap of my running week which has gone great so far. Monday, did easy 4 with Crystal after a looooong day of work. Weather was fine - cool, sunny, mid 70's. We hit the trails, did an out and back on the flatter route. Nothing special to note - kept pace very honest, and tried to loosen up the legs which were tired after the 22 miler the day before. Started slow, but loosened up quickly and finished fine. Total mileage: 4 miles - splits were between 8:30-9:30 minute pace.

Tuesday evening, did our run in the early evening, weather was windy but cool - temps in the 70's. We decided to run towards the university and back, a hillier route. First mile, started slow but quickly picked it up. Towards the turnaround, Crystal snarled at me saying I was obviously feeling good if we were moving this quickly, so I let her lead coming home. Not surprisingly, I watched the splits get quicker and quicker, go figure, and this quickly became a progressive negative split run. Around the last mile, completely dropped the hammer and tore into it. Legs felt great, was tricky coming back because of the wind but was completely fine. Total mileage: 6 miles - splits were: 8:23, 7:36, 7:35, 7:26, 7:21, 6:44 (note the first 3 miles where I was leading vs. warrior princess's last 3).

Decided to get today's easy run out of the way, so we met bright and early and hit the trails. Chilly outside starting out (high 50's/low 60's), legs were lethargic but ok. Did Glen Carbon route out and back, and felt ok for the most part. First couple miles just trotted along, ran through quite a few spider webs - BLAH!!! The turnaround eventually came, so the run was going pretty quickly. Coming back home, we have to cross a street and we saw a school bus stopping to pick up kids for school, followed by a pretty long trail of cars. Well, Crystal does not stop for anybody nor any vehicles, and we were about 50-75 yards before the intersection with kids still boarding the bus, so guess who turns on the jet propeller legs?! Ugh, was not happy about going from nice, easy pace to ridiculous uphill sprint, but we didn't have to stop. Kind of woke us up, so the rest of the run flew by. Total mileage: 5 miles - splits ranged from 8:30 to 9:20 I think?

Legs are pretty tired right now, probably from 2+ weeks of insane running, so going to switch Thursday and Friday for off days, which will give us almost 2 days of rest. Fri, we'll do our scheduled track work, Sat. long run, and Sunday pace run.

Riding with the Shen Train - choo choo!

Here we go with the weekend update:

First, pretty dismal showing by the United States in the World Championships. Really didn’t win too terribly much, but salvaged some gold at the end by great performances by LaShawn Merritt and the 4X400 men’s relay team. U.S. won 10 gold medals, a steady decrease from their last couple appearances in the World Track and Field Championships, so need to step it up moving forward! Kara Goucher finished 10^th in the women’s marathon, quite the disappointing performance seeing she should have easily medaled. She battled hot conditions and had problems with fluid retention during the middle part of the race which pretty much killed her in the end. Sadly, this will be her last race for a while, as she is taking a break to concentrate on family. We’ll miss you Kara! On the men’s marathon side, Dan Browne had the top U.S. time of 2:16:49, which was good for 24^th place. Very disappointing effort, as it shows how far behind U.S. Marathoning is behind other countries in the world. And if your name is not Ryan Hall, Dathan Ritzenhein, or Meb Keflezighi, there aren’t too many competitive marathoners in the country that are going to make an aggressive push at a marathon title. Hopefully, Hall can bring home a NYC Marathon crown and salvage some pride for the Americans – we shall see!

Weekend ended up flying by as usual, and managed to get in some solid runs. Friday, Crystal and I decided to get in our Saturday run early and flip flop our day off since Saturday was pretty jam packed for me. Weather was overcast and cool, prob in the low 70’s – absolutely perfect for running. In fact, it started to rain at one point but only spitting rain which was fine towards the later part of the run. Wanted to go slow, told Crystal that since I was tired from the aggressive tempo the night before. Started out slow, quickly got into a good groove and first few miles were sort of groggy but picked up quickly. Found ourselves having to slow down a little, but legs were ok. Groin still sore, but loosened up my mid-run. So we’re headed towards the university, and we see various runners in our path since it was really nice outside – about 0.12 miles from our turn around, we spot a girl runner with her boyfriend biking next to her presumably as her pacer. Crystal is pretty territorial about her bike path, so as we make the turn around (at least a quarter mile behind now), Crystal starts licking her chops and pretty much declares we are going to pick them off. So goodbye aspirations of a nice, slow run, all of a sudden we are going ludicrous speed, albeit on a downhill and felt pretty good. We catch up to them, just blaze past them, our point was made (don’t motivate Crystal or she will smoke you), and we finally eased up when we forked back to the main part of the trail. Last couple miles, cruised through, finished with no problems. Total mileage: 10 miles – splits were 8:27, 7:58, 7:55, 7:57, 8:03, 7:43, 7:15, 7:50, 7:36, 7:30.

Hung out with Pat and Crystal afterwards, Shane came over so we made it a fun euchre night. Saturday morning, golf tourney, played with some friends over at a local golf course – nothing special to note, just had a good time with good company with absolutely perfect weather! Didn’t stay long enough to see if we won anything, in fact all our teams bailed so who knows how we did overall?! Ran some errands, ended up going to a wedding with my friend Jessica in Soulard (south St. Louis) – perfect weather, just had a great evening with a lot of fun people. Stayed out a bit too late, and 5:55 a.m. came pretty fast for our Sunday long run. Shane picked me up, we met up with Crystal and trotted over to the bike trails and off we went! Weather was super cool (high 50’s), but sun was starting to come out so warmed up just fine. First 3 miles, my God I was cramping so bad I was wondering if I could even finish half of this run!! We were going pretty slow, and I was not feeling good at all but motored on. Right before the big hill on Meridian, finally started to feel good and then all of a sudden was in a groove. Pace felt good, good conversation, perfect conditions to run, next thing you know we are at the 10 mile turnaround having ran the last 7 miles uphill so you can only imagine our mindsets knowing we had almost 7 miles of downhill coming up. Those miles FLEW by, we passed a lot of runners on the trail, saw bikers, legs were feeling pretty good. Sun was coming out but most of the trail was shaded so was fine – breeze was a little stagnant coming home, so made the temps rise a little but was still tolerable. We make it to mile 17, last 3 miles were uphill so tried to get mentally prepared for that. Legs felt pretty good at this point, and we pretty much nailed those miles having to slow down at various points. BTW, saw a ridiculous amount of wildlife on this run – turkeys, deer, rabbits, cats, dogs, squirrels, birds - was like a freaking nature channel run! Shane had planned on getting in 3:10 on this run, and we were going to easily hit 20 miles in less than 3 hours so we decided to keep going since all of us felt pretty good. Hit a flat part of the trail (past our starting point), felt fine but at the turnaround (roughly 0.8 miles out), groin started to get really tight and could feel the general fatigue of running for over 3 hours at this point. Focused on getting into a zone, was fine – Crystal and Shane started to pick it up towards the end (wtf?), so decided I was not going to get dusted behind and got going myself. Got up to marathon pace, then faster, then I think we were hitting 6:50 pace at one point but still felt great. Did a little extra to round off the mileage, felt amazingly good and was on cloud 9 after that performance. Total mileage: 22 miles – splits were 9:03, 8:44, 8:42, 8:35, 8:54, 8:48, 8:44, 8:45, 8:34, 8:46, 8:51, 8:39, 8:41, 8:42, 8:37, 9:05, 8:29, 8:50, 9:04, 8:46, 8:27, 7:49.

Stretched for a decent amount, then had a ridiculous feast of food at St. Louis Bread Company with Pat and Crystal afterwards, ate outside and was enjoying the beautiful day. Notes on the long run – we used Gatorade Endurance throughout the run, which is the formula that will be used in the Chicago Marathon. The sodium content is higher in this type of Gatorade, which helps with fluid retention. Had no problems with it, tasted good and no cramping issues later. Also, used GU Roctane, which has more caffeine in it. Actually felt pretty energized after using it, and think I figured out my GU strategy for the marathon (every 1:15). I didn’t eat a very good breakfast in the morning (banana and water), so was happy to have gotten through without hitting the wall or any problems whatsoever. Was very pleased at the week’s running – hit 57 miles, had a career long training run (not counting marathons, of course), and hit a good tempo run as well so was absolutely perfect! This week is an off week, time to rest a little, but amazingly I feel pretty good despite the last 2 heavy weeks! Groin is still tight, left knee is sore but hey I ran 22 miles yesterday! Tonight is easy 4 with Crystal, should be pretty much an easy trot so foresee no problems.

Golf Scramble Team

Jess and I

Shane getting ready for the ridiculous long run

Video Friday

Adjectives are beginning to fail me here:



Bolt is really really really really really really fast. Shane and I were talking about this - he should donate his body to science he is so fast. He is not even human, he is an elk. He has been sent back in time to save Sarah Connor...and demolish every speed record known to mankind. Hasta la vista world records!!!!

Next, this was sent to me by a coworker, and I thought I would share. James Jarvis is a well known illustrator who now designs toys for Amos Toys. Jarvis is a well-accomplished runner (2:35 marathon - STUD), and created this little animated film in collaboration with Nike.

"The film was inspired by certain personal experiences in running – a favourite run over Blanchland moor in Northumberland, being attacked by a crow in Singapore – and also by the transcendent, almost psychedelic experience of the simple act of running."

Really cool stuff, I hope you guys enjoy :)

Onwards from AKQA on Vimeo.

Last night, went out on my scheduled tempo run. Crystal wasn't feeling well, and I was contemplating rescheduling but it was so nice outside that I was forced to run. Had been sitting inside for a couple hours getting really antsy, so had no problem changing really quick and knocking out the workout. Started out pretty easy, felt like I was gliding and was enjoying the cool, low 70 degree weather. Groin was kind of tight (need to stretch more this weekend), but kind of worked itself out so was fine. Just flew through the first mile, and hit the trails. Kind of started to struggle for some reason, but wanted to keep pace so made myself get into a zone. Turned around at 2.5 marker, saw some people ahead and competitive instincts took over so at this point pace was no longer an issue. 3rd mile felt fine, 4th mile hit some uphills and worked through those. 5th mile was just awesome, was running relaxed, body had completely acclimated itself to the aggressive pace, and wasn't breathing hard at all. Flew through that and decided to do one more since I felt so good. Hit a big downhill stretch and at this point was hitting 5K pace which is just ridiculous. Ran into a friend I hadn't seen in a while, came to a screeching halt and the workout was suddenly over. Total mileage: ~6 miles (5.5 tempo) - splits were: 6:26, 6:35, 6:29, 6:32, 6:25, last mile was 6:06 pace and I would have hit this if not faster.

Afterwards, went up to meet with Jared at Buffalo Wild Wings to have a quick beer and congratulate him on a possible new job. Ran into my buddy Stephen Pifer and his family, was good to catch up with him! Stephen ran collegiately for University of Colorado and was pretty much the best runner to step foot in this area when he was in high school winning virtually every major title. He is running for Oregon Elite now (he says he will set up a meeting with Kara and I if I come to the trials in 2012 which I most definitely plan on), and just missed out qualifying for the World Championships by 1 place so was home for a week visiting family. He is running the 5th Avenue Mile in late September, one of the most famous road races in America, so be sure to tune in!

Pifer at the 1500 Olympic Trials Final last year

Tonight, would love to get in my 10 early since my Saturday is pretty filled with a golf tournament early and a wedding later. Sunday morning, our first 20 miler with Shane - should be fun!!!

Thursday Blah

Wow, Paula’s withdrawing from the World Championships this weekend! I guess not a total shock, but she is clearly not ready in her mind to go out and dominate so sitting it out. Maybe she’ll defer to Chicago and come give Deena a run for the title? Most likely she will be back in New York – I don’t blame her, since she is the 2 time defending champion. Also, here is a cool little article about Nate Jenkins who is pretty much your everyday runner, albeit elite. He basically coaches himself, and posts a blog on the runningtimes website detailing his training progress. Really cool to see an elite runner’s workout day in and day out, and have studied pretty diligently to get some good workouts for myself. He is running this weekend in Berlin – best of luck to him!

Yesterday after work, went out for a easy 5 miles with Crystal. Was hot and humid (mid 80’s), sunny but breezy so cooled it down a little. Hit the trails headed towards Glen Carbon, which is pretty shaded so made it that much cooler. Both of us were tired from a lot of recent running, so went slloooowww. Hit an ok rhythm, never felt too uncomfortable, and enjoyed the day. Don’t mind running in crappy hot humidity when we are running in shade and slow. Total mileage: 5 miles – splits averaged 8:37.

Tonight, scheduled tempo run, I think my legs will be up for it. We’ll probably hit 4 at pace with a few miles warmup and cooldown. Briefly talked strategy for the upcoming Lewis and Clark ½ Marathon which will serve as prep for the Chicago Marathon. This race will not be run all out, as I think that will potentially do more damage running kamikaze for a great time, so looking more conservative in the low 1:30’s which should be really comfortable. The point is basically to run a long pace run (a little faster), get a little race experience with a decent crowd, and just enjoy a good workout.

Lastly, here is my designed kit for Chicago. I know Tim will love it ;) My affiliation with Nike is coming to an end with our recent contract disputes, so Chicago will be my last major race where I will feel obligated to wear Nike Apparel. After the STL ½ Marathon fiasco in April, Shane brought up a good point that I wasn’t wearing my Sunday Tiger Red, so have designed my race outfit with that in mind. This may change depending on weather conditions that day – sunny and hot, will need to get a new singlet and obviously no arm warmers!

Brooks Adrenaline GTS 9 Review

Here is an article from the Wall Street Journal concerning the lovely Miss Kara Goucher talking about her viewpoints on catching up with the dominant African long distance runners. Basically, it talks about Americans being overanalytical about training, and most non-Westerners just tend to run hard and not worry about computer readouts/diagnostics/etc. Makes sense, I think it is good to have some structure in training, but it does tend to get monotonous having every single run scheduled out during a long training segment. When training for the St. Patrick’s Day, Ben from Big River Running put me on a training program that had 2-3 workouts per week with me filling in the rest. Was kind of cool to go into a day not knowing what to run, but do how I felt that particular day. Ken is employing that strategy this time around for Chicago this fall – hopefully it works out best for him!

Now, onto the shoe review - here are my thoughts with the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 9:

-Brooks Adrenaline felt good around my foot - a lot of room to maneuver, toes felt free. No issues with the front, plenty wide enough. Feet felt really snug, but still have plenty of space.

-Cushioning was AMAZING. Never had support like that on any shoe before, and highly doubt durability will be an issue. Seriously, like running with sturdy pillows tied to your feet!

- Brooks Adrenaline is by far the heaviest shoe I have ever worn. Billed at 11.4 oz., I could feel every extra ounce by just walking. It’s not that it was heavier that it would take away from my performance, just I can feel the extra weight. Typically love wearing light shoes, this is the 2^nd pair of Brooks I have run in (Brooks Defyance last year), and just really heavy. The shoes are sooo comfortable though, so I overlook that aspect on the training runs but would not particularly be my first to choice to race in them. However, was able to execute a great tempo run in them last week, and did my 18 miler last week in them – quite frankly, I think this shoe is better for a long distance trainer, where I can shorten my stride and have a more consistent turnover.

- Brooks Adrenaline is a stiff shoe in my opinion, but may need to work them a bit. Tried bending the shoes a bit to test the flexibility – very stiff, but also these shoes have less than 100 miles in them. Can feel in my turnover and foot strike, not impeding anything but just feels different.

- Color scheme for the shoe is a little bland for my taste, but a plus is I can wear these shoes anywhere whether it be running or to the grocery store.

Overall, enjoy running in the shoes on training runs, but highly doubt I can race in them. The cushioning and support are like no other, and am extremely pleased to say I have not had any issues physically while running in them. I probably need a heavier, sturdier shoe to run with because of my pronation problems, but I just feel more comfortable racing in lighter shoes – could be a mental thing too. I will most likely buy again and incorporate them into my training rotation.

Enjoyed not having to run last night (because of early AM run) and able to relax a bit! Tonight, doing easy workout with Crystal and Stacy, scheduled 5. Top Chef Las Vegas season premiere starts tonight, so we are having a little party to celebrate!

Tuesday Ramblings

Still pretty blown away by Usain Bolt's ridiculous performance the other day at the World Championships! I ran across a few articles this morning that I wanted to share with you - first, this one talks about Bolt's performance and the fact that his technique is still raw, and people think he can improve a lot more. SICK!!! Next, this article is in interview with Justin Young, one of the American runners participating in the World Championship Marathon later this week. Absolutely amazing the workouts these elite athletes do - the one that got me was his Wednesday workout of 20 miles in the a.m. at sub 6 minute pace, then 10 miler with 6 mile tempo at sub 5 minute pace in the middle. I guess thinking about it, it would be the equivalent of me doing 20 miles at sub 8 and the tempo later at sub 7, but I highly doubt I would make it more than 1-2 miles into the tempo. Just ridiculous, I am in complete awe of elite runners!

Next, an article that Pat sent me this morning from the NY Times (rapidly becoming my favorite newspaper to read) talking about the averse effects of fatty foods concerning short term memory and exercise. Obviously, this isn't a surprise, but kind of amusing to read if you have time. And something I need to clearly pay attention to since my diet has not been too good as of late!!! FINALLY, Runners World had a quick interview with Ryan Hall concerning his third place finish in the NYC Half last weekend. Good to see he is in good spirits about his training, and aiming high for a good attempt at the win later in November.

To the good stuff - running has continued on, and sticking to the schedule for once!!! Last night, was POURING rain and storming like crazy, so basically tried to wait it out by sleeping on my couch. Woke up later, examined the clouds which looked very ominous, but decided to get it out of the way since every second delay was 1% chance more that the run wasn't going to happen. Did an out and back loop in town on the roads, felt myself speeding up a lot but my main focus was to keep it as easy as possible. Was monitoring my breathing, once I started speeding up my breathing it was time to slow down, but quite honestly was never a factor. Legs were tired, deservedly so from the hard last week, but held up fine. Humid as crap outside as usual, but the run blazed by thanks to my wonderful Ipod. Total mileage: 4 miles - didn't have a watch and forgot to check what time I left, but estimated I ran in 34-38 minutes. Showered and stretched afterwards.

Was emailed last week about today's run (scheduled 10) - Crystal wanted to get it in early because she had dinner with her coworkers, so decided it would be a good idea to get it completely out of the way. So 5 a.m. came WAAAAYY too early, and we got going shortly after. Weather was HUMID, sort of cool but mostly because the sun hadn't come out yet. Clouds in the sky looked dark and evil, so decided to go towards Edwardsville where it didn't look as bad. First couple miles were ok, I think we were both pretty sleepy and just kind of flew by before we knew it. Coming towards the 4 mile marker, Crystal suggested we make it a loop instead of an out and back, so decided that was a good idea and jumped onto the different trail when we hit the fork on the road. Kind of cruised for a few miles since it was downhill, but was getting noticably tired. Legs were definitely starting to get that leadened feeling, and wasn't from the pace because we weren't pushing it. Stopped for a quick water break, then forged on. Last 3.5 miles were fine, except my stomach was doing some weird things and I felt like I had a continuous cramp. Saw Bambi and her mother on the trail, and the sun started to come out - nice way to end the run, I guess. Total mileage: 10.33 miles (extra mileage due to improvised loop) - splits were: don't have them, but 8:26 avg. and pretty consistent.

Showered and stretched afterwards, legs are TIRED. Nice to get the run out of the way before 7 a.m., so will do massive stretching and possibly runners yoga tonight. Scheduled 5 tomorrow, Stacy is in town so I think we are doing most of it with her. Will be at a SLOW pace to let our legs recover, especially for the uber-high mileage weekend and the eagerly antipated/dreaded first 20 miler.

In tomorrow's post, I will review the Brooks Adrenaline GTS shoes I recently purchased as a trainer. I have been running with them off and on the last month, and have enough mileage in them to give a good analysis.

9:58!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Crazy weekend in the track and field world! So many things that I couldn't wait until the morning to report! First, let me congratulate Tadese Tolo and Paula Radcliffe for winning the NYC 1/2 Marathon titles this morning! Tolo actually defended his title from last year, and ran 1:01:06 despite cramping a bit towards the end of the race - fortunately, he was by himself so was able to hold on for victory. Ryan Hall finished 3rd in 1:02:35 in his 2nd ever half marathon - great effort for him in his prep for NYC in November. Radcliffe was using this race as prep for next week's Marathon World Championships, and eased up towards the end to run in 1:09:45.

Next, let's get to the major news of the weekend - 100 meter finals in the World Championships in Berlin. Usain Bolt - MY GOD!!!!! I can't even describe this effort, take a look here:



Seriously is there anyone in this world that is more on top of his game than Usain Bolt?!?! Defeating his own record by a tenth of a second (ridiculous amount of time for this short of a race), and hitting times that I never thought would be possible in this lifetime. Congrats to Tyson Gay, who despite injury hit the 3rd fastest time in history with a 9.71. Just an amazing effort for 2 freakishly fast individuals!!!!

This weekend, got in some great running, and am very pleased following a couple inconsistent running weeks. Friday, scheduled running day off, went to Happy Hour with Barrel after another long day of work and called it an early night. Crystal and I got up pretty early (5:15 a.m.) on Saturday morning for our scheduled long run - felt a little tired from the long week, but ok I guess. Weather was muggy, but sort of cool because it was so early. Decided to do our typical long run route - towards Glen Carbon, towards Edwardsville, then back - instead we decided to make the turn towards the university instead which has a slow grade to it. Started out at a leisurely pace, and kind of struggled through the first couple miles. All of a sudden, got into a decent rhythm and just felt really good. Mid miles FLEW by, splits were really consistent, and for the first time in a long time for a long run wasn't really pushing the issue and just focusing on getting a decent amount of time outside actually running. The last few long runs I have done have been great, but really not helping my body learn to burn carbs efficiently. Turned around at 9.5 marker, sun was starting to come out but we were going downhill and had a breeze. Cruised some more, started to feel a little tiredness in the legs but shrugged it off. Every time I looked at my Garmin, I swear half a mile had gone by so was nice that the run felt easy and fast. Hit the final 3.5 miles going back towards home which is uphill, and picked it up. Last mile was tiring, but found out later we had picked up the pace a lot so felt good about it. First really long run was a total success, and nice to have good negative split. Total mileage: 19 miles - splits were: 9:13, 8:37, 8:34, 8:32, 8:31, 8:27, 8:26, 8:27, 8:18, 8:36, 8:10, 8:18, 8:09, 8:12, 8:12, 7:53, 7:44, 7:38, 7:27 (8:18 avg. pace).

Ran some errands after the run, did a little work then headed back home. My buddy Doug was in town for his birthday (Happy Birthday Dougie!!!), so grilled out for lunch and just hung out most of the afternoon. Took a huge nap, ended up going out for a bit later on but got in at a decent hour. Sunday, went over to Jared and Nicki's house for their beautiful daughter Sophie's 3rd birthday party (Happy Birthday Sophie!!!)! Got home around 7, decided to try to get in my pace run. Legs were tired, but felt amazingly ok despite the heavy mileage this week. Weather had been storming all afternoon and was just humid outside, so studied the hour by hour report on weather.com and decided to give it a go. Did an out and back on bike trails headed towards Troy - decided to carefully monitor my body and if I was laboring too much I would just quit the pace work and just go for mileage. First mile, was zooming and going way too fast so felt myself trying to slow down a lot. Got into a good groove and just stuck with it - 2nd mile hit another fast split, and really tried to control myself. I lost the safety net of the trees and was at the mercy of an open field for the next mile and a half, so just tried to sustain pace but felt pretty good. Turned around at 4.5, was still cruising and had no issues. Mile 6, started to get tired but was hitting some amazing splits and wanted to finish consistently so told myself to suck it up and finish it out. Miles 7 and 8, I swear I was flying - was pretty flat on this part of the trail, so got into a great groove. Last mile, realized I was probably going to break 7 minute avg. pace, so kind of had fun with it surging on the hills back and pushing the last quarter. Didn't realize how tired my legs were until my cooldown, but overall felt great considering I had just did 19 yesterday. Total mileage: 9 miles - splits were: 6:57, 6:59, 7:02, 6:57, 7:03, 6:59, 6:55, 6:55, 6:44 (6:57 pace).

So a fantastic week of running - hit 50 miles, didn't deviate once from the schedule (first time I think?!), legs are tired but feel pretty strong. Executed every run perfectly, and worked pretty hard in general. Even more satisfying with working a 65 hour week, and being able to kill all my runs. This upcoming week is going to be pretty hefty mileage-wise, and need to really focus to get through it. Shane is in town this weekend, and going to join us for our first 20 miler, so will be a welcome addition to our little running group!

Doug and I

Sophie and I making goofy faces - well actually, just me :)

Sophie's very cute little sister Lillian and I

Where did this week go?!?!?

Exactly...it has been a tornado of a week! Hope everyone survived and is ready to enjoy a nice weekend! First, here is an article in the NY Times talking about whether running actually HELPS knees because continuous exercise tends to have a protective effect rather than destructive. Basically in conclusion, if you are lucky and don't suffer a major injury, you actually will be helping to strengthen your knees through running - pretty interesting stuff.

So yesterday, I get a text from Tim saying he was accepted as a Brooks I.D.er. As stated on their website, Brooks I.D. is made up of over 1,500 members who are active in their running communities and share a passion for the Brooks brand. They are runners who are winners in their own right: Winning their age divisions, accomplishing their personal goals, pushing their own limits, and, by extension, encouraging others to do the same. They are coaches, mentors, and leaders. Pretty awesome that Tim's application got accepted, and maybe adds even more motivation now that he is partially sponsored. I decided to give it a try as well, so sent in an application - my running team Big River Running is sponsored by Brooks, and I just bought a pair of Adrenaline GTS's as well as wear a Brooks singlet in local races so would be a natural fit. We shall see! Congrats Timmy!!!

Went for a run in the evening after yet another long day and well-deserved power nap. Crystal texted me opting out of our scheduled hill workout because of massive headache, and said she was going to try to get in 4 miles on Friday on our day off, so I decided to change my workout to 4 mile tempo seeing I have done 0 speedwork since the successful Summer Sizzler 5K PR a few weeks ago. Weather has been hot during the day, but cools off by 7 so felt pretty nice going outside - sunny, 70's, a little humid but not unbearable. Didn't really know what to expect pacewise, so had Tim set a goal for me - 6:30's, and I was going to try to work with that and how my body felt. First mile, felt pretty good about a quarter mile in but started to fade - typically my fast running strategy has always been run hard the first mile, then settle into a decent pace but with lack of recent speedwork and the wear of the longer runs that wasn't going to be easy. Stupid IPOD headphones kept falling out, so was a pain in the butt basically running one-armed while trying to adjust. Hit the trail, felt ok at about the 1.5 mile marker but was definitely showing signs of laboring. Turned around, legs started to have that deadened feeling around 2.5 mile marker - blah! Last mile coming home is rolling hills, and just completely sucked. I hit a small downgrade coming towards home and in shock saw two pregnant ladies smoking cigarettes and fist fighting!!! WTF?!?! In retrospect, probably should have stopped and said something but was too tired and wanted to get the run over with. Hit the last quarter hard, tried to stay loose, and stumbled home. Total mileage: 4 miles - splits were: 6:11, 6:18, 6:18, 6:14.

Run was pretty tortuous, wasn't happy that it took that much effort to get it done but I guess it was a good workout nonetheless. Splits were AWESOME, but probably worked too hard to hit those times. Thank God today is day off!!!! Will be well needed for the 19 miler tomorrow and 9 mile pace on Sunday. This weekend, plan to relax a bit, clean up, LAUNDRY, and watch Tiger tear it up at Hazeltine as well as the World Championship Track and Field and NYC 1/2! TGIF!!!!

Massive Update - last week, Denver weekend, this week!

Ok I know I have been a crappy blogger of late, but work and travel have been completely out of control! Now that travel has calmed down a bit (work still nuts!!!), I will try to focus on being better on here. I owe everyone a monster post, so here goes it. First, some racing news – Paula is running on Sunday and the NYC Half Marathon:

"Recently, my training has started to go very well. I’m definitely ready to run a half-marathon, and the NYC Half-Marathon will give me important feedback about where I am,” says Radcliffe. “After the race in New York, I will consult with my coaching and medical teams and we will make the final determination as to whether I am ready to run the marathon in Berlin. It is certainly my hope to compete there.”

In the NYC Half, her competitors will include two-time World Champion marathoner Catherine Ndereba of Kenya and 2004 Olympic marathon bronze medalist Deena Kastor. Next, Ryan Hall announced he is participating in the Philadelphia Half Marathon in late September:

"I’m looking forward to racing my first ING Philadelphia Distance Run this September. There have been some great U.S. performances at the race over the years and I’m hoping to bring a performance that will add my name to the ranks," says Hall, who was third in the Boston Marathon in April. "The race fits perfectly into my fall schedule and I’m excited to be part of an event with such a great tradition here on home soil."

Both tidbits are pretty exciting for the running community, and definitely will be searching to see if I can watch streaming video of the race on Sunday. All of this is leading up to a very exciting fall marathon series!!! Finally, a quick synopsis/preview of the upcoming Track and Field World Championships which begins shortly - should be amazing!!!

On to my personal running – has been sporadic, but I think I am back on track. When I last updated, I think I had ran 16 miles on Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday, decided to get my long run in since I knew it would be nearly impossible to do in Denver. Pat and Crystal were out of town, so I recruited my buddy Mike to join me on the running trails. We ran the Troy loop, which is basically flat but has some grades towards the middle part of the run, and did an out and back. Weather was humid and warm but bearable, and helped to see a ton of people on the trails. Had some good conversation, and Mike kept me from going nuts and running way too fast. Legs felt ok for the most part – definitely tired, but most likely from the ridiculous mileage I was accruing early in the week. Don’t have the splits on hand, but ranged from 7:50-8:20. Nice to have the long run out of the way on Wednesday :) Total Mileage – 12 miles.

Thursday, tried to make it up early for my pace run but failed (as usual). Flew to Denver at night to see Tim and Trisha, and just hung out with them around Tim’s area in Stapleton which is roughly 5 miles east from downtown Denver. Friday morning, woke up pretty late and went for a run around town. Stapleton is a beautiful community, pretty much typical suburbia life, and most of the infrastructure is relatively new and clean. Roads are pretty wide, and there wasn’t much traffic which made running very convenient. Most of the roads are set up in a grid system, very much like Chicago, so was pretty easy to navigate around the city.

Tim mapped me out a quick 3-4 mile loop that he does from time to time, so I decided to check it out. Weather was 85 and SUNNY, but humidity wasn’t nearly as bad as it is in the Midwest so it seemed a lot more bearable. Was tired from staying up last night, but felt ok so attempted to do a little pace run. Went hard the first mile, but started to tire fast and legs were just giving out. Was breathing like I was running a hard 5K, so had to stop for a quick break. Went a little easier on mile 2, but I just couldn’t keep up the pace. Stopped again for a quick break after I hit the split, then tried to suck it up for 2 more miles. My god, I think the altitude was a beast especially for me trying to do a faster paced run! Cooled down a little, but wanted to get back inside because I was getting pretty dehydrated (Thursday’s night endeavors didn’t help!) and just wanted to get out of the sun. Total mileage: ~4.5 miles – splits were: 7:00, 7:31, 7:14, 7:17

Ended up going to the baseball game on Friday night – Trish’s company hooked up some tickets 13 rows behind the dugout, so got to see my beloved Cubbies in action!!! Unfortunately, they lost but was a beautiful night and got to enjoy being in a different stadium. Went out all over downtown afterwards, just soaking up the atmosphere. Lost my camera, was not too pleased about that, but met some fun people and had an amazing time. Saturday morning, woke up pretty early to get settled in for the day’s events over in Washington Park, which is located in South Central Denver (basically in the middle of a neighborhood), and is a beautiful park containing a boat house, tennis courts, trails galore, and just a gorgeous setting. Sooo many people were outside, and I was extremely jealous to see so much outdoors participation in Denver - STL can be a ghost town at times! No wonder Denver always ranks #1 or 2 in the nation's fittest cities!

Set up camp, and just spent an awesome day having fun outside playing volleyball, football, whiffleball, bags, etc. Wanted to go for a quick loop around the park, but never really made it due to complete fatigue and general laziness – I made up for it by doing some massive running playing all the other sports, so I didn’t feel too bad. Spent most of the day over there with a group of friends, before heading back to Trish’s to clean up. Predrank over there, and headed out to some bars around her area and downtown to celebrate Timmy’s 30^th birthday!!!! And yes did we celebrate :)

Sunday morning, woke up in a complete and utter daze, and was pretty much suffering from extreme exhaustion and dehydration from partying like rockstars for 72 hours. We had gotten a ride back from the bars and Tim’s car was still at Trish’s, so decided to kill two birds with one stone and run over there to get his car. What complicated matters were my running shoes were still over at Trisha’s, so I had to borrow a pair of Tim’s – I wear 11 wide, he wears 8.5, so was a tad uncomfortable. Was a gorgeous morning (we really lucked out on perfect weather last weekend), and terrain was slightly hilly but otherwise fine. Didn’t hit too intense of a pace, but was definitely pretty sluggish starting out. As we ran towards downtown Denver, passed many parks, golf courses, the zoo, and different neighborhoods as Tim did his best impression of a tour guide. Feet were on fire on the downhills, but the monster hangover diverted the pain everywhere else. Let me state that the best way to truly see a city is to run through it – absolutely amazing! You pick up on so many more details that you would miss driving, and truly get a great appreciation for the area. Didn’t hurt that we were running towards this gorgeous skyline in the horizon:

Did 4-5 miles, was pretty content with getting almost 10 miles in Denver which boosted my weekly total to 38 – ugh, but what can you expect during busy travel week? Had brunch downtown with the girls, then headed to the airport where we parted ways. So sad to leave Denver – absolutely beautiful city, but I will be back!!! Had full intentions of getting a couple miles at night, but came back to 100+ degree weather so that plan was completely abandoned and opted to recharge my batteries from the CRAZY weekend.

Monday, endured a pretty terrible day at work, got home to a blazing, hot, humid day so waited a while for it to cool down. Legs were still on fire from Wash. Park day, and just felt rough in general. Did an out and back, and tacked on an extra mile to make up for crappy mileage last week. Felt pretty loosened up by the end of the first mile, and started to coast. Had to make myself slow down a lot, and just felt great at the end of the run. Total mileage: 5 miles – didn’t bring a watch, but ran roughly 34 minutes. Tuesday, ran with Crystal, who was pretty livid at her crappy training partner (me) for my lack of participation for our runs, so was nice to get back out with her and hammer one out. Legs were still dead from weekend activities, and just felt like crap in general since I had another loooooooooooong work day and was completely spent. Did an out and back towards the university (rolling hills route) on the trail, she picked up the pace coming home and we were hitting race pace and better the entire way back. Normally, I would have questioned the speed of the workout but (a) was in the doghouse (b) was pretty dark by the turnaround, so I just sucked it up and got it done. Felt like dog poop at the end of the run. Hadn't really eaten well in 5 days, so probably didn't help. Total mileage: 9 miles – splits ranged from 7:03 to 8:20 (last 5 miles were at race pace or better) - avg. pace was 7:26 I think?

Yesterday, another crappy work day, wasn’t feeling too hot but Crystal and I hit the trails anyways. Kind of blew off some steam talking about why work has been so bad lately, and was 2-3 miles into it before I realized we were almost done! Evening was pretty nice, and felt good to have an easier paced shorter run. Got that out of the way fast, felt better. Total mileage: 4 miles – average split was 8:28 I think???

So back on track this week with 18 miles already, on pace for 50. Tonight will be some variation of speedwork, I think 6Xhills so will report on that later on. A little bittersweet that my fun travel plans are done and the next 8 weeks are completely dedicated to training, but really motivated to work hard and achieve my goals for this race. Might as well start my 3^rd decade of existence in the best shape of my life!!!

Wash Park Volleyball - Jason, Tim, Erin vs. Stefan, Peter, Kaila

Partners in Crime

Cubs/Rockies Game on Friday Night